by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
At the end of his life, Jacob traces Joseph's blessing back to two names. It comes from the God of his father, who helps, and from the Almighty, who blesses. The blessing then arrives from three places: the sky above, the deep below, and the body that gives life.
The name "Almighty"
The title Jacob uses here is not a general word for God. Writers have never settled its exact force. And this blessing is the first place where the title stands alone, without the word God beside it.
Morrish Bible DictionaryScholars do not agree about where the word shaddai comes from, or what it means. Some give it as "all bountiful," others "all sufficient," others "almighty," and so on. This is not surprising. Any name of God must be above mere human learning or definition. Yet it was the ground of faith to those who had the revelation. The name first occurs in Genesis 17:1; God said to Abraham, "I am God Almighty." This links it with the patriarchs: it is the name by which God was known to them. The title "the Almighty" without the name of God added occurs first in Jacob's address to his twelve sons before he died.
That name carried a promise long before Jacob used it.
An Outline of Sound WordsThe Name of the Almighty assured Abraham that God would do everything He had promised… Jacob uses the Name of the Almighty in Genesis 43:14; 48:3 and 49:25. He knew the all-powerful might of Him who had blessed him despite all his failures.
Heaven above and the deep beneath
The verse looks up and then down. One writer takes the two directions as two companies of people blessed through the Messiah.
L. M. GrantVerses 25-26 indicate the widespread fullness of the blessing of the Almighty resting upon the Lord Jesus. There are blessings of heaven above. That is a faint hint that He would have a heavenly company. He does have one today, "blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3). "Blessings of the deep that lies beneath" implies the blessing of Gentile nations through the Messiah of Israel (Rev. 17:15). The heavens speak of what is above Israel, and the deep of what is in a lower place, as the Gentiles rightly will be.
Commentators differ. Another writer reads the deep as the ocean floor itself, giving up its treasure.
An Outline of Sound WordsThere are the blessings of the deep that lies under. They are the precious things that come from the bed of the oceans to enrich God's earthly people. The twelve gates we have read of were "twelve pearls; each one of the gates was of one pearl." Where do the pearls come from? Are they included in the blessings of the deep that lies under?
Breasts and womb
The last pair in the verse turns from the land to the body.
L. M. GrantThe breasts speak of nourishment, and the womb of fruitfulness. This shows that the land will produce plenty. Israel's blessing in Christ will exceed what Jacob's ancestors, Abraham and Isaac, received. It will bring wide blessing on the earth, "to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills." This completes the three spheres of the great blessing connected with the Messiah: the heavens, the deep, and the hills of earth.
A blessing larger than anything before it
Jacob says plainly that what he is handing over outstrips what his own fathers received. The scale is the point.
Hamilton SmithThe rejected but exalted Christ becomes the source of blessing far exceeding all known blessings, for He will bless "with the blessings of heaven above" in addition to the blessings of the deep "that lies under." This is blessing that will far exceed anything the nation has enjoyed in the past. What is more, the blessing will reach beyond the land "to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills."
Suffering first, then glory
The verses around this one set suffering and glory side by side.
C. H. MackintoshThese verses display "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." The archers have done their work, but God was stronger than they were. The true Joseph was shot at and badly wounded in the house of His friends. But "the arms of his hands have been made strong" in the power of resurrection. Faith now knows Him as the basis of all God's purposes of blessing and glory.
What He now holds, He does not hold for Himself alone.
J. G. BellettAll power is now in Him, in heaven and on earth. He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. His title to the resources of creation is sure, sealed by the dignity of the place He now fills. And the resources He now owns, He will in time use for Israel and for the whole earth, after the pattern of this mystery of Joseph.
Summary
- Source. The blessing starts with a name: the Almighty. The patriarchs knew God by that name, and Jacob trusted it despite a lifetime of failures.
- Shape. From that name it comes down in three spheres: heaven above, the deep beneath, and the fruitfulness of breast and womb.
- Scale. Jacob measures it against what Abraham and Isaac received and calls it greater. It reaches past the land to the farthest hills.
- Cost. It comes through One the archers wounded; His arms were made strong in the power of resurrection.
- Crown. All power now belongs to Him, and one day He will use His resources for Israel and the whole earth.